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Getting High: Marijuana through the Ages
This fascinating book traces the global history of marijuana, reaching back thousands of years. Noted historian John Charles Chasteen follows the use of the drug since Neolithic times, which makes marijuana among the first domesticated plants. Surprisingly, though, only infrequently has it been used as a recreational drug. Instead, there is a vibrant spiritual dimension to its long history that has been continually ignored.
Beginning with the familiar "outbreak" of the 1960s, Chasteen unearths successive layers of marijuana's history. Written with insight, clarity, sophistication, and good humor, this deeply informed work discusses the cultivation of cannabis and its many forms, including hemp, one of the world's principal fiber crops. After a tour of Latin America, Africa, India, and the Muslim world, Chasteen concludes that unlike alcohol marijuana has always flourished outside the mainstream. Its principal users have been creative outsiders of many kinds--mystics, artists, musicians, free thinkers, and spiritual seekers--as well as poor laborers attracted by its low cost. Marijuana, it seems, is a mind-expanding drug after all, and Chasteen explores its rich heritage with captivating insight.
Beginning with the familiar "outbreak" of the 1960s, Chasteen unearths successive layers of marijuana's history. Written with insight, clarity, sophistication, and good humor, this deeply informed work discusses the cultivation of cannabis and its many forms, including hemp, one of the world's principal fiber crops. After a tour of Latin America, Africa, India, and the Muslim world, Chasteen concludes that unlike alcohol marijuana has always flourished outside the mainstream. Its principal users have been creative outsiders of many kinds--mystics, artists, musicians, free thinkers, and spiritual seekers--as well as poor laborers attracted by its low cost. Marijuana, it seems, is a mind-expanding drug after all, and Chasteen explores its rich heritage with captivating insight.
168 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 9, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 24, 2024
I'm high af right now ngl
February 8, 2016
I received a copy of Getting High from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Let me start off by saying that marijuana has never been a part of my personal life. I mean, growing up, I had friends that smoked and ate it (and still do). I've smoked it a whole two times in my life; it just was not for me.
However, I've always been fascinated with marijuana and its history. I am extremely picky on what I read about this - there is so much propaganda out there that either says, "smoke every day!" or "marijuana is bad, mmkay?" I'm a very research-oriented person and when I read on any subject, I really, really don't like it when the author(s) try to sway me to their side, regardless of what the subject is. The exception to this is if the book clearly states that is what it is trying to do. When a book is masked, though, that is when I have an issue.
Getting High is an absolutely fantastic book. While it is about the history of marijuana, there is so much more here than just that. This one truly does go through the ages, and as far as I know, nothing was left out - good or bad.
Don't be put off by the length of this book at 168 pages. It does seem short, but there is a ton of information in here; every sentence is a learning experience. The entire world history is truly covered, in great detail. It's easy to read though, and I found myself forgetting to take notes (again) because I was so engrossed in this. Unfortunately, I did read it super fast despite my weekend break.
If you want to know how we got here, to today, with marijuana, this book is perfect for you. I didn't feel like Mr. Chasteen was pushing me in one direction or another. I really, honestly believe he wrote this to present the facts of marijuana, and that includes the good and the bad that has happened over the many years that this has been a part of human history.
I have friends advocating both sides of the marijuana platform, and I'm sure a lot of readers do too. We've all seen and heard it - it's everywhere right now. Marijuana isn't going away. That is the truth of it, with it being worldwide, it will always be somewhere. If you want to know the facts, the history, and how we got to where we are right now, this book is absolutely perfect for you to read.
Let me start off by saying that marijuana has never been a part of my personal life. I mean, growing up, I had friends that smoked and ate it (and still do). I've smoked it a whole two times in my life; it just was not for me.
However, I've always been fascinated with marijuana and its history. I am extremely picky on what I read about this - there is so much propaganda out there that either says, "smoke every day!" or "marijuana is bad, mmkay?" I'm a very research-oriented person and when I read on any subject, I really, really don't like it when the author(s) try to sway me to their side, regardless of what the subject is. The exception to this is if the book clearly states that is what it is trying to do. When a book is masked, though, that is when I have an issue.
Getting High is an absolutely fantastic book. While it is about the history of marijuana, there is so much more here than just that. This one truly does go through the ages, and as far as I know, nothing was left out - good or bad.
Don't be put off by the length of this book at 168 pages. It does seem short, but there is a ton of information in here; every sentence is a learning experience. The entire world history is truly covered, in great detail. It's easy to read though, and I found myself forgetting to take notes (again) because I was so engrossed in this. Unfortunately, I did read it super fast despite my weekend break.
If you want to know how we got here, to today, with marijuana, this book is perfect for you. I didn't feel like Mr. Chasteen was pushing me in one direction or another. I really, honestly believe he wrote this to present the facts of marijuana, and that includes the good and the bad that has happened over the many years that this has been a part of human history.
I have friends advocating both sides of the marijuana platform, and I'm sure a lot of readers do too. We've all seen and heard it - it's everywhere right now. Marijuana isn't going away. That is the truth of it, with it being worldwide, it will always be somewhere. If you want to know the facts, the history, and how we got to where we are right now, this book is absolutely perfect for you to read.
November 22, 2016
In other election news, twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia now allow some form of pot. Two books about marijuana published this year, this history in February and a public policy report in October.
The widespread use of marijuana as a recreational drug is recent, writes John Charles Chasteen, a history professor at UNC who lives in the countryside near Chapel Hill. The United States now is the world capitol for its use and cultivation.
About a hundred years ago, marijuana came up from Mexico into Texas, where grocery stores sold one-ounce packages. Immigrants and musicians took pot with them when they began finding work in Chicago and New Orleans. Louis Armstrong was a lifelong viper whose band smoked before playing.
The Beats smoked pot in the fifties, but the experience became more commonplace when jazz vipers and hippies associated it with creative and unconventional thinking.
Research about the early stages of cannabis continues to unfold. A frozen tomb in Western China, opened eight years ago, included two pounds of leaves and flowering tops that were still green.
Interesting world view of recreational and medical marijuana. This background history pairs well with Marijuana: A Short History, a five-star policy book published a few weeks ago.
The widespread use of marijuana as a recreational drug is recent, writes John Charles Chasteen, a history professor at UNC who lives in the countryside near Chapel Hill. The United States now is the world capitol for its use and cultivation.
About a hundred years ago, marijuana came up from Mexico into Texas, where grocery stores sold one-ounce packages. Immigrants and musicians took pot with them when they began finding work in Chicago and New Orleans. Louis Armstrong was a lifelong viper whose band smoked before playing.
The Beats smoked pot in the fifties, but the experience became more commonplace when jazz vipers and hippies associated it with creative and unconventional thinking.
Research about the early stages of cannabis continues to unfold. A frozen tomb in Western China, opened eight years ago, included two pounds of leaves and flowering tops that were still green.
Interesting world view of recreational and medical marijuana. This background history pairs well with Marijuana: A Short History, a five-star policy book published a few weeks ago.
April 4, 2021
This one lives up to its title and also offers policy suggestions for making legalization work. The author pays needed attention to how drug laws have been heavily leveraged against minorities and offers ideas for using legalization to rectify a century of Drug War harm. This is a serious book, perhaps a bit wonky, but we’ve left the era of Just Say No and need to explore how to undo a policy that was racist from the outset (something he discusses). It’s time to think proactively, and Hudak does just this.
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October 21, 2016362.29509 C489 2016
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews